Thus war between the sisters was declared, and Luisa Carlota sought by every means to enlist the support of the powerful Espartero in her favour.
At this time there was some talk of the marriage of Isabel with a Prince of the House of Coburg. The report was without foundation; but the Infante Don Francisco sent for the Spanish Ambassador in Paris, and made a solemn declaration of his disfavour to any project of the Princess marrying with any but a Spaniard. The Ambassador was accompanied in the interview by his secretary, and he sent the Infante’s message to Madrid, adding his own opinion in its favour, and this was echoed by the Queen and the Government.
In the meantime Don Carlos was obliged by the foreign diplomats and Vergara to retire to the frontier of Spain, so the country once more settled down under the Queen.
But Espartero was the ruling power. The soldier who, but six short years before, had arrived in Madrid to take his orders as a brigadier officer was now Captain-General of the Army, Count of Luchana, Duke of Victoria and Morella, held decorations of the highest order, including that of the Golden Fleece, and was a grandee of Spain.
The enthusiasm for Espartero was unbounded, for not only was the country grateful for the way he had led the royal troops to the rout of the Carlist companies in the North, and thus put an end to the long Seven Years’ Civil War, but he represented the Progressive party, which was favoured by England.
Queen Maria Cristina wished to share the popularity of the hero, and so she arranged to meet him at Lerida, on her way to Barcelona, under the pretext that sea-baths were required for her daughter Isabella. In the interview with the General, the Queen suggested that he should take the post of Prime Minister; but this honour the soldier declined, unless the Congress were closed and the Bill for the election of the Mayors of the Corporations by royal order abandoned, as it was contrary to the Constitution of 1837. These conditions the Queen declined, and she did not see Espartero again until he entered the Catalonian capital in triumph, after giving the final blow to Carlism by the rout of Cabrera at Berga. The ovation given to the General was tremendous. “Viva Espartero! Viva la Constitution! Down with the Law of the Corporations! Down with the Government!” came the cries from the people.
The Queen-Regent was alarmed, and it is said on good authority that she sent for the Count of Lucena, the bizarre Don Leopold O’Donnell, and told him of the difficulty.
“Well, you have only to send for a company of grenadiers to shoot Espartero,” said the leader of the Moderate party; to which Maria Cristina returned: “Be silent! You frighten me.”
MARSHAL LEOPOLDO O’DONNELL, DUKE OF TETUAN